Union, D.C. renew rivalry in U.S. Open Cup

CHESTER — To say that things haven’t exactly gone to plan for manager Ben Olsen and his D.C. United team may be the understatement of the 2013 MLS season.

Few people understand that predicament and its accompanying frustration better than Philadelphia Union manager John Hackworth. It was a year ago that Hackworth took the helm of a listing Union team that bears a striking resemblance to this year’s D.C. club.

And while Hackworth couldn’t right the ship in MLS play, inheriting too few points and too much disorder from his predecessor, the first-year manager had a run to the semifinals in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on which to hang his hat.

This year, the tables have turned, meaning the Union enter as the wary side as the clubs meet for the third straight year, this time in the fourth round this evening at 7 p.m. at the SoccerPlex in Boyds, Md.

“It’s fresh in our minds,” Hackworth said Wednesday at his weekly press conference at PPL Park. “There’s a lot of guys in our locker room who were in the exact same situation last year and felt that this was their way to turn the season around a little bit. And just knowing that firsthand, having lived through it, makes a big difference.”

The profiles of the clubs are eerily similar. The 2012 Union came off a playoff berth the previous season but sputtered out of the gates after a slew of questionable personnel decisions. That team managed a paltry output of eight points through the first 11 matches, scoring just eight times and landing coach Peter Nowak on the hot seat, from which he would be axed just days later.

D.C. United, meanwhile, finished second in the Eastern Conference last season, losing in the Eastern Conference finals of the MLS Cup playoffs. They’ve been horrible this season, garnering just six points from 14 matches and scoring six times compared to 24 goals conceded to land in the basement of the East, leading many to question Olsen’s future with the club.

Despite the seemingly divergent paths last year, though, it was the Union who escaped Boyds with a 2-1 win in extra time June 5 thanks to Antoine Hoppenot’s winner. It’s a template that has the Union on high alert for a hungry D.C. team this year.

“The Open Cup is important for us. I know it’s important for D.C., and they’ve said it, that it’s their way to turn their season around and play for something,” Hackworth said. “We did the exact same thing last year, so I just think it’s going to be both teams ready to play. … I think we expected them to be one of the best teams in the league this year. It hasn’t happened for them in league play, so now it’s an Open Cup match and the roles are reversed a little bit. It’s tough, and certainly going down to Boyds makes it a little harder on us, but that’s what we have in front of us.”

The bad blood between the teams needs little introduction. Things were relatively civil when the Union beat D.C., 3-2, in April at RFK Stadium. But that game is the outlier for the recent animosity between the teams. The Open Cup tie last season ended with matching red cards for Carlos Valdes and Brandon McDonald in extra time. Valdes was sent off two years ago when D.C. dispatched of the Union in the play-in round of qualification in penalty kicks. And hostilities flared in February when a preseason meeting in idyllic conditions in Florida were shattered by Dwayne De Rosario head-butting the Union’s Danny Cruz to earn a red card.

It has Hackworth setting a low bar for what he expects in the win-or-go-home scenario tonight.

“I would be surprised if we finished tomorrow night with 11-v-11,” Hackworth said with a half-smile. “We just have to see how it goes. I hope that it’s 11-v-11; I hope that it’s a great soccer game. I hope that we score a lot of goals and they don’t score any, but that’s not really realistic.”

The match may bear little resemblance to the April league meeting. D.C. is likely to have a completely rebuilt backline from the one shredded three times in 19 minutes in that first half at RFK. Only two defenders from that debacle — Chris Korb and Daniel Woolard — played in a solid result last Saturday, a 0-0 draw with New England, and Korb is suspended after picking up a red card in the penalty-kick win over Richmond Kickers in the third round. The acquisition of Canadian-born Swiss defender Alain Rochat last week from Vancouver should reinforce the beleaguered unit.

Up front, former Union striker Carlos Ruiz will miss out after a red against Richmond, while former trialist Sainey Nyassi will give the Union a different look. The revolving door of personnel makes for a unique preparation, with Hackworth having to focus more on tactics and the way D.C. is likely to play rather than the players who will occupy that system.

The Union are riding a high, sitting in playoff position after a 3-0 win over Columbus a week ago. Their injury concerns are limited, with Kleberson (hamstring) and Michael Lahoud (sports hernia) out.

The biggest challenge — as it always seems to be when facing D.C. at the SoccerPlex — is controlling the intensity of that high.

“For whatever reason, you’ve got the fans that are right there, it’s close … it’s always been a very emotionally-charged setting,” Hackworth said. “That’s been the case with the teams playing very competitively. Once that happens twice, you kind of start to expect it. For us now, having the Open Cup down there and knowing that it’s so important for both teams at this point, you go into it with the expectation if the crowd’s good and they’re energized, certainly the players are going to be that way.”